1. (a) Private donations to a research endowment shall be considered a qualified donation if:

   1. (1) the donation or pledge is expressly or specifically restricted by the donor for one or more of the eligible uses under § 6-614 of this subtitle;

   2. (2)

      1. (i) except as provided in item (ii) of this item, the individual donation or pledge is a minimum of $500,000 or is bundled with other qualified donations to meet the $500,000 threshold; or
      2. (ii) for an individual donation or pledge made to a research endowment of a nonprofit institution of higher education that has an annual unrestricted current funds budget of less than $250,000,000, the individual donation or pledge is a minimum of $200,000 or is bundled with other qualified donations to meet the $200,000 threshold; and
   3. (3) the nonprofit institution of higher education accepts the donation from individuals, partnerships, associations, public or private for-profit and nonprofit corporations, or nongovernmental foundations.
2. (b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, a nonprofit institution of higher education may designate unrestricted gifts or bequests, or a portion of an unrestricted gift or bequest, for use as a qualified donation.

3. (c) A qualified donation excludes:

   1. (1) any donation received by a nonprofit institution of higher education prior to October 1, 2014;
   2. (2) educational or general fees, auxiliary fees, or other student fees generated by the institution;
   3. (3) proceeds from promissory notes, bonds, loans, or other instruments evidencing an indebtedness or any other obligation of repayment by the governing body of a nonprofit institution of higher education to the maker of the instrument; or
   4. (4) any other funds received from the State or federal government.

4. (d)

   1. (1) The president of each nonprofit institution of higher education or the president's designee shall make the initial determination of whether a donation constitutes a qualified donation.
   2. (2) The president of the nonprofit institution of higher education shall provide a report to the governing body of the institution at least once each fiscal year regarding the amount of qualified donations the institution has received.

Added by Acts 2014, c. 532, § 1, eff. July 1, 2014; Acts 2014, c. 533, § 1, eff. July 1, 2014. Amended by Acts 2017, c. 258, § 1, eff. July 1, 2017; Acts 2022, c. 248, § 1, eff. July 1, 2022; Acts 2022, c. 249, § 1, eff. July 1, 2022.